Downton Abbey's series four opening episode drew in over 10.5 million viewers, over a million more than the debut episode of series three.

The episode aired on Sunday night causing twitter to go into a frenzy, with over 23,000 tweets sent throughout the show. In particular fans took to the social media site to discuss Michelle Dockery's depiction of the mourning Lady Mary causing #DowntonAbbey #LadyMary and #carsonsays all to trend.

The cast have hinted that series four will be the most exciting one to date and will include Lady Mary getting back on her feet and even being pursued by "more than one" love interest .

The show was nominated for 11 awards at the Emmy Awards which also took place on Sunday night, but only took home one trophy for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series.